lawyer

#Congressperson asks DoJ to “intensify enforcement” of online harassment laws

Says only 10 cases out of estimated 2.5 million were prosecuted from 2010-13.

by Sam Machkovech - Mar 11, 2015 10:59 pm UTC

Enlarge / House of Representatives member Katherine Clark (D-Mass.)

On Monday, House of Representatives member Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) became the first member of the US Congress to call out GamerGate while lambasting online harassment. In an op-ed at TheHill.com titled "Sexism in cyberspace ," Clark called on the US Department of Justice to "intensify their efforts to investigate and prosecute the federal laws that criminalize the worst" cases of abusive speech perpetuated online.

According to Clark, only ten cases of "cyber-stalking" have been pursued by the US DoJ between 2010 and 2013—years after Congress amended the Violence Against Women Act to add online harassment to its federal purview (see Sec. 113 here. PDF)—in spite of an "estimated 2.5 million cases of cyber-stalking." Clark's op-ed did not cite where that statistic came from—and Ars has reached out to Clark's office asking for more info—but for now, some sleuthing brought up a statement  about the "ten cases" figure made by University of Maryland professor and author Danielle Citron .

The DoJ recommends that stalking victims report cases to their local police department. Therefore, it's likely that local law enforcement has investigated far more than just the ten cases cited by Clark. The statement by Citron also says 750,000 people are victimized a year, but it's broader than just "cyber stalking." That number includes harassment of other types.

"After speaking with the FBI, other law enforcement agencies, and women who have experienced these threats firsthand, it's clear that nothing is going to change until we stop thinking about these crimes as harmless hoaxes and recognize the chilling effect these crimes have on women and the economy," Clark wrote. (As we reported last year, the FBI has publicly acknowledged efforts to curtail rising trends of online abuse and threats.)

Citing studies by both the Pew Research Center and the University of Maryland. Clark broke down the statistics of abusive and hateful speech that people—and women in particular—face during average Internet use. The 2014 Pew report made no bones about the issues women face online: "Young women, those 18-24, experience certain severe types of harassment at disproportionately high levels," that report stated.

“It curtails their full participation in the economy”

After describing examples of online harassment, Clark name-checked the gaming industry's most notorious anonymous mob. "“Gamergate” has been marked by threats of murder, rape, violence, and severe harassment of female participants in the video game industry ," Clark wrote. "These women have been targeted by anonymous Internet users and have been repeatedly subjected to explicit threats of rape and murder, their personal information has been disclosed, and several have been forced to flee their homes and cancel public events ."

Clark also offered a rebuttal to the argument that an "online" qualifier makes such harassment easier to bear: "For the millions of women and girls who use the Internet every day to navigate their jobs and personal lives, online abuse is not only emotionally devastating, but it also curtails their professional choices and their full participation in the economy."

Much of the op-ed's statements appear in Clark's latest letter to the House Appropriations Committee. urging those members to add a statement to its DoJ report later this year about "increased instances of severe harassment, stalking, and threats transmitted in interstate commerce in violation of federal law."

This article has been updated to clarify which statistic was mentioned by Danielle Citron.